Meant to be
by Bing-a-Ling27
Summary: Matteney Story about "What if the rumors of December 2015 were true"?
1. Chapter 1

It was over.  
So simple, so easy.  
It was over just as fast as it all started two years ago.  
And it hurt. Damn did it hurt.

It hurt when her marriage ended all those years ago. When everything she worked so hard for fell apart.  
David moved on. He found someone new. He fell in love again. By now he was married for the second time and even had a Baby Boy. And she was happy for him. After all he still was one of her best friends. He deserved to be happy.

But she did too. It was all planned so well.  
She wanted to marry Johnny. Move with him in a new house and even try for a Baby. She always wanted for Coco to have another sibling. Coco was just great as a big sister for Baby Charlie. And Courteney herself always wanted more than one child. Coco was never meant to be an only child. Even with her medical history, knowing how hard it was to get through a halfway healthy pregnancy, she was willing to do it. For their future together.

But apparently there was no future together.  
The tabloids were slow again.  
He already left in the mid of October. Not in the beginning of November. On the 21'st to be exact. It all started with some discussions months ago.  
First about the wedding. He wanted a big, fancy, glamorous one with hundreds of colleagues, family and press somewhere in Ireland. All she wanted was a small, romantic One. Not too far away and only with their closest friends and family. They couldn't agree on this point.  
The Last discussion was about where to live afterwards. For all sakes he wanted to move to Belfast and live between Northern Ireland and London. She couldn't leave L.A. Not only because it was Coco's home and where David lived. But also because it was her own home.  
She loved living in Los Angeles. And she didn't want to move away. Especially not that far away. It was after all another continent.  
With her not giving in on moving out of the States he made his decision very quick.  
Three weeks ago he left. He just took the things he could get in his travel bag and told her it was over.  
She stayed left behind.  
Hoping he would return.  
Hoping he would give them another chance. That they could talk about it.

But all he did was calling two weeks later to let her know when the rest of his belongings will be picked up.  
There she knew for sure that it was over.  
Not just because he told her so. But because of the female voice she heard in the background while he called her. It was his assistant Hailey. She recognized her immediately. Sure it was nothing new that Hailey was always somewhere around him. It was also normal that she was in his hotel room as she was his personal assistant. But when he called it was 6 pm in L.A. He on the other hand was in London at this time. It was not usual that his P.A. was in his hotel room at 2 am in the middle of the night asking him where the towels in the bathroom where.

That was seven days ago.  
And she felt miserable. Heartbroken. Left alone. Exchanged for a younger model.  
She needed something or someone to distract her thoughts. So she could focus for a moment on something else.  
Coco was with David this week. So she was all alone in this big and empty house. Everything in here reminded her on the future she planned with Johnny. They bought this house together for this future. She needed to leave it. As soon as any possible.  
Jen was somewhere in Europe with Justin at the moment. Lisa was in New York for some promo for her next project.  
Suddenly she knew what to do. Whom to call. She grabbed her purse, picked up the phone and dialed by heart the number from the only person in this world that could make her feel better right now.  
It only took three rings before the other side was answered.

"Yes please?" Just hearing this voice made her smile.  
"Hey Matty, it's me."  
"Court? Hey. How are you?"  
"Sorry for calling you this late." One glance at the kitchen counter told her it was already after 10 pm.  
"Hey don't worry about this. I was still up anyway. How about you? Are you okay?"  
"Sure" . She tried to hold back the tears that filled her eyes at this moment.  
But he heard it. He knew exactly what it sound like when she was upset or even crying. He heard it so many times. And it still broke his heart.  
"Court you want some company?"  
Of course he knew what she wanted to ask. With him it was always like that. As if he could read her mind sometimes.  
"If you don't mind"  
"I'll be at your place in 15 minutes"  
"No! Please don't! I… I… I can't stand it here Matty. It feels like the walls are coming down on me. Everything reminds me of him. I need go get out of this for a while. Can I come to your place?"  
He didn't even considered thinking before the answer to that question came automatically. "Of course. That is no problem. I'll see you in a couple of minutes then?"  
"Yes. And Matty? Thank you"  
On the other side of the line he couldn't stop the little smile can came across his face hearing her say this.  
"You're very welcome C.C."  
And then the line went dead.

Courteney got up from the couch and looked for her shoes and her keys while the feeling of looking forward to spent some time with Matthew grew stronger and stronger inside of her. Of course they stayed in touch all those years. But with his trouble of addiction and relationships, her problems with her marriage and the work it wasn't so easy to find time.  
Pulling her jacket over her shoulders she stepped in front of her car with only one thought left in her mind: I gotta see Matty…  
… and I don't have to share him tonight. 

* * *

**Hello together.**  
 **First ever try, so go easy on me ;)**  
 **I am in a huge Matteney mood at the moment.**  
 **As my little Fanheart broke again while reading Courteney got back together with Johnny**  
 **I needed to write my own Happy Endging for Matteney.**  
 **I have no idea how long this story gonna be.**  
 **Hope you like it.**


	2. Chapter 2

Stepping in front of his house she softly knocked on the white wooden door.

He had a great house. But no matter how beautiful it was here at the Malibu Beach she somehow missed his amazing house in the Hills. The one he turns into that place for helping addicts to sort their life out.  
It was great that he took it so serious and tried to help people as well as he could but still. It had been a wonderful place. She always loved visiting him there.

After knocking on his door she could her him yell "Damn it" inside.  
The door opened just seconds later with him standing in the middle of the doorway wide grinning.  
"You weren't supposed to be this quick Lady. Those were only what? Seven minutes? I wanted to clean this place up a little and change into something… let's say less sloppy."

He looked just as handsome as ever. But she wouldn't tell him that.  
You could see that he had ruffled through his hair a couple of times, like he always did. It was a little greyer then it was the last time they saw each other. But it really suited him well. He wore black tennis socks, a pair of grey sweat pants and a dark purple L.A. Kings T-Shirt which was just a little tighter and showed that he was working out.

"Don't worry about it Matty", she grinned back at him. "It's only me and not the Queen of England. Also it's past ten. What do you think I expect when I disturb you this late?"  
It was so good to see him.  
Just then a flood of loneliness rushed over her all of a sudden and tears started to fill her eyes.

It broke his heart to see her this way. As soon as he saw her smile drop and the tears start to fill her eyes he took her in his arms and hugged her.  
"Shh, it's okay Court. Don't worry I'll be better soon. I'm here now. Come on we go inside. But go easy on me with the mess in the living room."  
His hand ran up and down her back while he calmed her down.

When he led her into the living room she saw what his so called "mess in the living room" was.  
An open laptop lay on the couch. A blue fleece blanket was placed over the back on the couch. The cushions were spread mixed all over the couch and the armchair.  
On the small table in front of the couch three cans of Red Bull were placed. Two open and one closed. Next to this were a pack of cigarettes, a lighter, an ashtray, an open bag of Doritos, three remotes and his glasses.  
Nothing you would describe as "mess".

"Are you writing something special?" she asked while pointing on his laptop.  
"Naa, just some stuff for "The Odd Couple" and some ideas for whom I have no plan what they are going to be" he grinned and ruffled his hand through the back of his hair.

"Do you want something to drink? I can make you whatever you want"  
She knew what he meant.  
Even as a sober alcoholic he had some bottles locked in his house for guests.  
It was dangerous, of course, but they were locked away and his father checked them every couple of days to make sure Matt didn't fell off the wagon.  
They made this arrangement when he went into rehab in 2003. And she knew it because he told her then.  
Also Matt was a very stubborn person. He once said he needed those bottles locked away close to him for training his own will power. It would help him to stay sober. She never really understood this thinking but it was his way and it worked for 12 years now.

While others would take the opportunity to get hammered Courteney knew better.  
She could've really needed this drink right now but she used to live with an addict long enough.  
And she remembered how David suffered.  
"Do you have another one of these?" she asked and looked at the cans on the table.

"As much as you like". He knew exactly what she was doing. She took care of him.  
Courteney had never drunk any kind of Energy drink because she didn't like it.  
No matter how fine he was, she wouldn't drink any alcohol in front of him.  
Not because she didn't trust him. But because she knew how hard it could be for him sometimes.  
She had been there and saw him go through all of this so many years ago.  
She even spent her free time helping him to go through withdrawals and mothered around him all the time.  
She also helped David to go through all this.  
If there was someone who knew how to behave with former addicts it was Courteney.  
"Just make yourself a home. I'll be back in a minute".

Matthew couldn't remember when he last enjoyed an evening that much.  
It was great to have her here with him.  
He came back from that kitchen with some diet coke knowing for sure that she loved this.  
They sat on the couch for hours listened to some music and just talked about everything and nothing.  
There was so much to catch up on.

When his stereo started to play his favorite smoothly girly music she didn't even laughed. Courteney knew exactly what kind of music he liked. And she always thought it was incredible cute that a guy listened to this kind of music and was on top of that honest about it.

He made her laugh a lot in this couple of hours.  
They've talked about work of course.  
He asked how Coco and David were and listened with much interest about everything she told him.  
She even showed him some photos.  
Matthew and David were always pretty well with each other. They could spend a complete evening just talking about sports and joking around.  
Coco with now being eleven years old was a huge Friends Fan. She couldn't really remember Matthew and as his and Courteney's time schedules didn't matched that often Matthew and Coco didn't met so many times. But Coco new every line he ever said as Chandler. She absolutely loved him and was a massive shipper of something called "Mondler". Courteney really needed an explanation from her eleven year old about what this meant. She didn't even know it was mentioned in the show once. Coco also used the opportunity to explain her mother the term of "Matteney". This one made Courteney laugh.  
Courteney told him everything about Johnny aswell. How it started, how it ended and how much it hurt. They spoke about the plans she had with him.  
All she ever wanted was this one person to spend the rest of her life with.  
The One she would have a future with. A soul mate if you want to call it that way.  
She worked really hard on her marriage hoping to have all of this with David.  
But obviously destiny had other plans with her.

He, on the other hand, told her everything about Lizzy.  
Court had asked what happened as she just knew the version the press had printed.  
His relationship with Lizzy was the longest he had ever had in his life so far.  
He'd loved her. And as time passed by he thought about settling down with her.  
He always wanted to have a family of his own one day.  
When Lizzy went to the doctor because she thought she could be pregnant he became somehow really excited. The image of being a Father kept going on and on in his mind.  
He realized just how much he wanted to be a Family Father.  
Therefore he was pretty upset when Lizzy told him it was false alarm.  
She was just a couple of days late.  
As much as he was disappointed about it as much was Lizzy relieved about it.  
With being in her mid twenties she didn't want to have a Baby right now.  
She didn't even know if she wanted any kids at all.  
Her focus was completely set on her acting career and nothing should come in that way.  
When he asked her what she would have done if it hadn't been a false alarm she became very quiet and had a guilt look in her eyes.  
There he knew that it was over.  
She would have nothing come in the way of her career.  
The papers of course said it was his fault. That he was not ready for settling down.  
He didn't bother to correct anyone. Who would even believe him?  
He was always this Peter Pan kind of guy.  
No growing up. No responsibilities. No attachment to anyone.  
The press' version just fit perfectly in this.  
Not even his own parents knew the truth. He'd never told anyone else before.

He was also very open and honest when it came to the topic of his addiction.  
Every question Courteney asked he answered without hesitation.  
At some points of the stories Courteney fought with tears.  
He had a pretty hard time.  
A couple of times he was even very close on losing the battle.  
He was a fighter. A survivor.  
Never once would he call himself any of this.  
In his definition he was just a recovered alcoholic and addict.  
But Court knew better.  
She saw David go through this. He always complained about how hard it was to stop and how much he suffered. Matthew never once complained. He was much deeper into the addiction then David ever was but he never once complained. When asked he just said "Why should I complain about it? It's my own fault."

They also talked a lot about the "old times".  
Some nice topics to laugh and smile about.  
The laughs and jokes and fun they had with the other four during those great ten years.  
Remembering special moments.  
Insiders between the cast.  
Things no one else would ever understand.  
Facts and Rumors.  
Yes, the water in that fountain was heated.  
Yes, originally Joey and Monica were planned to be the main love interest.  
No, there was no contract signed about the cast not sleeping with each other.

The producers did tell them in the beginning before shooting started not to do much more then flirting, but no one let them sign anything.  
Thank god because that would have been expensive.  
Of course the rumor did exist but no one could trace it and no one ever confirmed anything.  
Not even Marta Kaufman or David Crane knew it.  
Only the other four co-stars knew that Matthew Perry and Courteney Cox used to be friends with benefits.  
It all started right in the beginning of season one in 1994 and ended two years later.  
Right from the start it was meant to be just fun between good friends.  
Lots of fun. Pretty great fun. Nothing more.  
They both liked to think back to those good times.

Matthew had his first hard struggling with addiction in 1996.  
Thinking she deserved better then a broken addict who couldn't take any kind of responsibility and didn't want to grow up he backed off when her movie co-star started to ask her out.  
But they remained very close friends.  
They could always talk about everything with each other and when she got engaged to David Matthew was the first one she told. He was very happy for her.  
The others found out about this friends with benefits past short before the show finished.

Matthew woke up from his daydreaming. It was half past three in the middle of the night.  
After talking a couple of hours they turned the TV on and snuggled on the couch because Courteney didn't want to go home then. Matthew switched to "American Horror Story". Ever since working with Sarah Paulson for "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" they stayed in touch and became close friends. And he just loved her show. As Courteney hadn't seen it so far he gave her a short summary of the actual season called "Hotel".  
By now the episode was over. Courteney had fallen asleep somewhere in the middle of it. Her head was resting on the pillows on the other side of the couch. Snuggling under the blue fleece blanket from the back of the couch she had placed her feet on his lap. She had taken off her shoes when they started watching TV.  
He sat there in the dark living room and watched her sleep.  
She looked so peaceful. He didn't want to wake her up.  
Carefully he stood up from the couch and picked her up.  
He never had problems with carrying her around.  
Slowly making his way to one of his guest rooms he laid her on the bed and covered her with the blanket.  
He then cleaned up the living room as quiet as possible to not wake her. She had told him earlier about her sleeping problems since Johnny left so he wanted to let her sleep as long as she could.  
When he made his way to his bedroom he couldn't help but smile a little.  
Keeping her company felt so incredible great.  
He almost forgot how much he loved having her by his side.

* * *

 **Hello Children!**

 **First of all: Thanks a lot for all those great comments!**  
 **I didn't expected any of this and I really appreciate it.**  
 **It's just wonderful to see that so many of you like the idea of this story.**

 **As English is my second language I'd like to apologize in advance if any**  
 **grammar or vocabulary mistakes find their way in here.**  
 **It would be a lot easier for me to write in german but**  
 **it's much more fun in english (most jokes got lost during the translation, so believe me)**  
 **and probably no one would understand a word ;)**

 **As I have a busy time schedule I hope you'll have patience with me.**  
 **It might take time for the single chapters to be ready but I promise they'll come.**  
 **I'm definately gonna finish this story.**

 **And last of it I'd like to mention that not all personal information in this story are correct.**  
 **I don't know Matthew or Courteney in personal (even if I'd love to).**  
 **Some fact are true, others are made up to fit into this story.**  
 **So please don't take every word serious, cuz in the end it's still just a FanFiction.**  
 **If you have any questions about this just ask.**  
 **I'm always open to talk about Matthew Perry. No problem for me ;)**

 **So... enjoy Chapter 2.**  
 **I'll try to hurry up for number three.**


	3. Chapter 3

Words couldn't describe how cute the image in front of Courteney's eyes just was.  
It was the 9'th of December.  
Almost three weeks since she called Matthew and spent the evening with him watching TV. Since that night the two of them saw each other every day.  
Was it for dinner, going somewhere or just hanging at his place and watch a movie. They continued "American Horror Story" and even started watching the previous Seasons.

Even Coco got her chance to meet Matt properly.  
She was over the moon.  
They got along more than well and she couldn't stop bombarding him with questions about simply everything.  
She questioned about the Friends time, about his family, about colleagues he worked with, about his hobbies and so on.  
She even started watching Ice Hockey with him. With an enormous patience, Courteney wasn't sure she herself even had, he explained the rules, introduced the Teams and some Players and answered every single question she had. And, as Courteney could see in his face, he enjoyed every single minute of it.  
It was absolutely cute to watch the two of them while they were in an intense discussion about the latest games.

Today she met him for lunch.  
Coco was at school so it was supposed to be just the two of them but Matt wrote a text in the morning asking if it was okay if he would bring someone.  
And that was how Courteney found herself in this place she was at the moment.  
Matthew sat across of the small table, maybe two or three feet away.  
In his arms he held a tiny little Baby Girl whom he just fed a bottle.  
And it was unbelievably cute to watch him.  
He was simply a natural.  
The little one watched very closely every move he made.  
Her big, bright, blue eyes never once left him.  
Courteney couldn't help but smile.  
That girl definitely had the same eyes as Matt, no question.

"Okay Matty, did I mentioned before how well this suits you?" she asked pointing to him and the Baby, a wide grin on her face.  
"Just about three bazillion times or so" he shrugged and grinned back.  
"I can't help myself, it's cute. It's great when they are still so small. They grow so quick. I remember when Coco was still so small."  
"Yeah, me too", he cut in, "remember when I visited you in the Hospital after Coco was born?"  
"Oh yes… that nurse who didn't recognized any one of us thought you were her father while you hold her, right?"  
"Yes, and she even congratulated me" he chuckled.  
"Yeah, David almost fell off the chair because he couldn't stop laughing"  
She remembered of course.

"So, how old is this little cutie now?" she asked.  
"This little Lady was born on 29'th of October. So she will be six weeks old tomorrow" he answered proudly.  
"Six weeks? Gosh! What's her name?"  
As they had both just arrived about twenty minutes ago there was no time so far to update theses informations.  
"It's Selina Leigh" Matt told her.  
"This is a really beautiful name. She even looks a little like you, you know. You two have the same eyes."  
Courtney couldn't help but grin when she saw the look of amusement on his face.  
"Well, this is very true. I already figured that out myself.  
Thank god there are no Paparazzi in this part of the city. Otherwise you could read about me secretly becoming a father in tomorrow's tabloids." he laughed.  
"I see" she smiled at him, "So… which of your sisters is the lucky Mommy?"

He had texted her this morning that he wanted to bring his niece.  
She just didn't know then that this niece was only a couple of weeks old.  
It was not the first time Matt had become an uncle.  
Some of his siblings already had children of their own.  
And she knew he loved being an uncle more than anything.  
Somehow he beamed while looking down at the little bundle in his arms.

"Well, little Selina here is the first one for Mia and Dave. They got married in August last year. That makes her the very first Perry Grandchild… even though her last name is Bowick" he smiled "maybe you can imagine my Dad's reaction. And as Mia and me both have Dad's eyes Selina got them aswell."  
Courteney couldn't help but laugh.  
Lucky girl, she thought.

"Oh, I can imagine very well. Now I know what makes her so special. But you can't blame him, right? He waited long enough" she teased.  
"Ha ha, very funny. Now you sound just like Debbie" he answered, referring to his Step-Mother, still smiling.  
"I already got every joke and every teasing about being in the mid-forties and haven't made one of them a grandparent so far. Don't worry about that. It was a fun Thanksgiving."  
"So you've spent Thanksgiving together?"  
"Yes. It's kind of a tradition since I was a little boy. Thanksgiving with Dad, Debbie and Mia in LA, Christmas with Mum, Keith and my other siblings in Ottawa. So this year it was Dad, Debbie, Mia and Dave, me and little Selina."  
"That's cute. Uncle Matty seems special proud of the first Perry Grandbaby somehow. How come you watch her today?"  
"Well, Uncle Matty is of course very proud of the first Perry Grandbaby, but I don't have a favorite in my nephews and nieces. I watch her today because Mia and Dave both needed to work and couldn't find a Babysitter. As I don't have a project at the moment I have lots of spare time and there is hardly a better way to spent it then with having alone time with Selina."  
Again, he beamed at her.  
If you wouldn't know it better you could think they were Father and Daughter.  
"Great you didn't cancel on me for a better date" she smirked at him.  
"First of all, since when are we dating? And second of all, I said hardly a better way. Not no better way." A dirty grin came back as response to her.  
"So" he continued, "How was your Thanksgiving?"  
"It was just me and Coco visiting Jen and Justin. Small and easy. Next thing to think about is Christmas now. It's only two weeks to go."

A thought crossed his mind.  
He had worried about this for a couple of days now. The closer the Holidays came the more he kept thinking.  
"Court may I ask, what are your plans for the Holidays this year?"  
A little fear crawled up his stomach. He hoped she wouldn't answered what he feared the most.  
"Well, you know Coco always spends one of the Holidays with me and one with David. She trades every year. So this year it's Christmas with me and New Years Eve with him. The original plan was to spend Christmas in Ireland with Johnny and his family. Johnny wanted to fly to New York for New Years then after David would pick up Coco. As both of this will obviously not work anymore I guess the two of us will stay at home for Christmas on our own. For New Years I think about asking Jen to stay with her or maybe I visit my Mother and siblings" she shrugged.

And there it was.  
His big fear.  
Alone.  
She would spend the Holiday's basically alone. Well except from Coco of course. She tried to hide it but he could see the little sadness in her eyes.  
Courteney was never the type of person to prefer being alone. He had thought about this a couple of days now. And he also came up with an idea a couple of days ago.  
"Okay, maybe you'll think I'm crazy but have you ever been to Canada around the Holidays?"  
She only shook her head to say no. Wondering what he was up to say.  
"Right, here's the thing. I would like to invite you and Coco for Christmas. I'd like for you to come to Ottawa with me."  
"What are you talking about Matty? Us spending Christmas with your family? I'm not sure if I would feel okay with crashing you family's home on Christmas."  
He couldn't help but smile at her.  
"You wouldn't crash anything Court. I just don't like the thought of you spending Holidays alone which are supposed to be a family thing. As long as I can think there was always the rule for every one of us kids that we could bring one or two people with us for Christmas. There were always friends or current partners at our house during the Holidays. Some of my sibling will bring their partners and kids this year, some will bring their best friends. It will be loud and crowded and I thought, if you don't mind, I'd like for Coco and you to come with me as my guests. If the others can bring their best friends so can I."

She bit her tongue to provide herself from crying.  
This was one of the cutest things someone had ever done for her.  
He was worried about her. He wanted to look after her. He wanted to spend time with her.  
She could feel how her crush grew inch by inch right now.  
Matty always had a special place in her heart.  
During their affair back in the early days of Friends she even fell for him. But she never told him. He already had a lot to deal with and struggled so bad that she didn't want to give him more trouble.  
And then along came David. She would have dropped David's invitation for a first date immediately if there were any chance for a future with Matt. But as Matt was everything but ready for a steady commitment and also didn't gave her any hint that he wanted more than a fling she gave David a chance. It was time to settle down and build something for the future. The affair ended and she fell for David. The rest was history.  
But there always remained a tiny bit of a crush for Matthew.  
Within the last couple of weeks this crush started to grow again. Courteney didn't even want this to happen but there was nothing she could do about it. They never talked about this ever. She had no idea how Matty felt about her. She never told him any of her thoughts or feelings about him. And she wouldn't risk their friendship for nothing in the world. So it had to be just her one sided crush. She so hoped it would only stay as a crush. If not, she was so screwed.

She gave him a smile while looking in his deep blue eyes.  
They were so pretty.  
She tried her best to not lose herself in them.  
"Are you saying I'm your best friend?"  
It sounded like a question from little children, just like she wanted it.  
He gave her his famous lopsided grin.  
"Don't change the subject here. Answer my question Madam!"  
Ah, screw the crush!  
Not a chance in hell would she drop a chance to spend the best of all Holidays with him.  
"Under one condition Mister."  
"Alright, shoot!"  
"If you get to chose where we spend Christmas together, you'll have to spend New Year's Eve with me together too. And I will choose where."  
That was it. The butterflies in her stomach were turning upside down, worrying what his answer would be. She knew that he normally used to stay at home on New Years alone, watching some TV and the Fireworks from his balcony and then head to bed. Since he fought his addiction all those years ago he used to do it that way. But if he was so kind of her not to stay alone at home on the 24'th, she would do the same with him for the 31'st.

"Well Miss Cox, I would say you've just made yourself a Deal" he grinned at her.  
His own stomach just flipped somersaults while saying these words.  
But since the friendship with her meant so much to him, never in hell would he tell her about the feelings he had for her for so long.

* * *

 _ **Hello Children!**_

 _ **I'm so sorry that it took so long for Chapter 3.**_  
 _ **But I warned you before.**_  
 _ **My time is limited and therefore it unfortunately takes a lot of time for me to finish Chapters.**_  
 _ **At least they're coming, right? ;)**_

 _ **So enjoy and have fun.**_  
 _ **I hope you like this one.**_  
 _ **I've tried to add more direct speech this time.**_

 _ **Thanks for all your lovely Feedback so far.**_  
 _ **It's always a pleasure to read it and it always puts a huge smile on my face.**_  
 _ **You guys are the best!**_


	4. Chapter 4

So everything was set.  
Matthew had informed his mother and step-father that he would bring Courteney and Coco as guests for Christmas. The flights were booked and the days were rolling faster than thought.  
Before she knew it the morning of the 24'th December was there. Their flight was set to leave Los Angeles at 8 am and it was planned that they would fly back around noon of the 27'th.

Just as Courteney looked up from her phone Matthew's car drove into the parkway.  
He was on time.  
With a smile she opened the door for him.  
"Good Morning Ladies! Ready to go?"  
"Hey Matty, good morning yourself" she smiled and hugged him. The moment they broke the hug Coco bounced down the stairs, a bright smile on her face.  
"Hi Matt! Can we go now?" – "If you're ready then yes" he chuckled. "Do you girls packed warm cloths? Keith just told me yesterday that it's pretty cold and still snowing in Ottawa." – "Yep, everything packed and set" Courteney answered. "Alright, then let's go!"

He definitely was more of a travel Pro then Courteney.  
Without a doubt.  
And he even made it look so easy. The drive to LAX was fast and without any problems. They parked the car on the backside of the airport. He led them to the terminal without any photographer or paparazzi seeing them. She had no idea how he did it but it was the nicest flight she ever had.  
Four hours later they landed in Canada. As she had no idea what to do next or where to go she decided to just trust Matthew completely and let him lead them.  
"I'd suggest you take yours aswell right now" he said quietly to Courteney so no one could hear them. When she looked at him she saw just in time how he placed his sunglasses on. He had already put on his black LA Kings cap before they entered the plane and wore a black, thick wool coat aswell. In combination with the sunglasses you couldn't recognize him anymore, no matter how hard you tried. Courteney grabbed her own sunglasses from her dark grey coat and pulled her Beanie cap deeper over her ears.  
They came to a stop in front of a Car Rent Service.  
"Good Morning. I've called a couple of days ago and booked a car at your service for four days" Matthew greeted the man behind the counter. Courteney couldn't help but noticed a slightly Canadian accent in Matthew's speaking he, for sure, didn't had back in Los Angeles. "Good Morning, Sir" the man greeted back with the same accent.  
"May I ask what name you booked on?"  
"Matthew Wayne"  
"One moment please, Sir. I'll go check this." As the man left Courteney turned to Matthew and grinned. "Matthew Wayne?" she asked, "I remember times when you checked into Hotels and stuff referring yourself as Wayne Gretzky and now you use you own name with any last name?"  
"Oh, it's much more than any last name, my dear. You'll see in just a minute. And I also learned with becoming older and wiser that it's not the smartest thing to check in with a famous name."  
The man appeared back on the counter. "Mr. Wayne, you're car is ready now. Here are the keys. I just need you to sign right here and we're done." Matthew smirked and winked to a chuckling Coco while turning to the counter and signed for the keys.  
"What was so funny now?" Courteney asked when they pulled their luggage to the car. "Mum, did you miss that?" Coco asked back still chuckling.  
"Miss what?"  
"Matty is Batman!"  
"Excuse me? I still don't get that."  
As Coco still laughed Matthew turned to Courteney and explained "Mr. Bruce Wayne is Batman's real name. As no one from a rent service or airport ever calls you by the first name they always go with Mr. Wayne, which makes me to Batman then. Also using Matthew instead of Bruce no one ever gets that this is a fake name." Finishing his monologue while loading the car with their luggage he was still smiling bright and proud of himself.  
It was indeed a clever idea. She had to give him that.

When they entered the car and Matthew drove them out of the parking lot Courteney turned in the passenger seat to face him. Coco sat on the backseat with her MP3 Player listening to some music and watching the surroundings out of the window.  
"Okay, another question if you don't mind?" she smiled to him.  
He didn't even look at her. Completely focused on the traffic he just answered "Shoot".  
With a teasing in her voice she asked him "Since when do you speak with an accent?"  
"Oh no! Did I do that again? I always tend to do that when I'm here. And the worst is I don't even notice it anymore."  
"Oh believe me you did" she said laughing. "But don't worry, I think it was cute."  
She saw him smiling.  
He took his eyes off the street for a quick moment and gave her this amazing lopsided grin of his. These beautiful blue eyes sparkled while he turned the radio on without looking to it.  
As he turned his attention back to the traffic Courteney felt them again.  
The light tickles deep down in her stomach. As if butterflies would turn their loopings round after round.  
She remembered this feeling. It was the same she had twenty years ago.  
And it had returned within the last couple of weeks she spent time with him.  
Before she knocked on his door she was miserable. She kept thinking about Johnny over and over again and couldn't stop crying. But since Matthew was back in her life this permanent she felt much better. In fact she hadn't thought about her Ex for weeks. Matthew made her laugh almost nonstop. And the only tears she cried now were the ones from laughing about his jokes. He just managed to make her feel better without even doing much. He was just there. And with him everything seemed so easy and familiar.  
She didn't plan for these old feelings to return and especially not to grow stronger than they were all those years ago. But she couldn't help it.  
Every time she looked into these eyes she could get lost in them. This beautiful shade of blue that reminded her sometimes of the sky and sometimes of the ocean. It depended on how the light fell into them.  
And then this smile. This incredible sweet and cute smile.  
Whenever he paired both the smile and the eyes she was lost for good. It wasn't good and she knew it. Having a crush on your best friend and former co-star was worst enough.  
But Courteney was sure that she was already over the point where she could call her feelings a simple crush. No, if it goes worst it goes as bad as possible. These feelings she had now were stronger then what she had felt for Johnny. As sad as it was they started to feel even stronger then what she ever felt for David. She was falling and she knew it. Fast and hard and irreversible.  
Courteney Cox was falling undeniable in love with Matthew Perry.  
He was everything her thoughts turned around. But she would never risk telling him. This great friendship they had wasn't worth it. If she had to chose between telling him her feelings, hope for a respond and risking to ruin their friendship forever or not tell him ever and keep him as this amazing and wonderful friend he was by her side forever she knew exactly what she would do. No matter the costs, no matter her feelings she wanted to keep him in her life. Even if "just" as a friend. That was still better than nothing.  
While still rambling with her thoughts and feelings she leaned back in the passenger seat and watched the world outside the car go by, smiling to herself about Matthew who sat next to her humming along perfectly without missing a beat to Taylor Swift in the radio.

The drive to the house of the Morrison Family took about an hour from the airport.  
Matthew drove without a break. He didn't need a map or a GPS for this. His mother and step-father still lived in the house he and his siblings grew up in. This was his home. And he knew the way by heart. It felt great to be back.  
Somewhere during the drive Coco had started to ask him tons of questions about Ottawa and his life growing up here. Courteney had fallen asleep ten minutes after leaving the airport. She looked so cute and peaceful that Matthew did his very best to keep the radio and his conversation with Coco as quiet as possible to not disturb her.  
She opened her eyes to the soft sound of Matthew's voice talking to her daughter.  
"So there is no one else with the name Perry?" she heard her daughter's voice.  
"That's right. I'm the only one. My mum and my half-sibling all have the last name Morrison" Matthew answered patiently. When Courteney sat upright in her seat he looked at her and smiled.  
"Hey there, sleepyhead. Did you have a good nap?"  
"You really let me fall asleep?"  
"Don't worry Court. It's fine. Coco here kept me busy" he winked.  
"I would have woken you up now anyway. We'll be there in a couple of minutes."

They came to a stop in front of a very beautiful house.  
It was built of dark red brick stones. On its left were two garages, one with a silver car in front. There was a front porch decorated with Christmas lights aswell. As it stood there covered in a thick layer of snow Courteney couldn't help but to think that it just looked like a Christmas Greeting Card. It was simply beautiful.  
"Wow" she heard Coco from behind, "that's it, Matty?"  
"Yes, it is" he groaned. "And she'll never learn it"  
"Who will learn what?" Courteney asked a little confused.  
"My Mum. Keith and I try for over 30 years now to explain to her that she should use her garage in winter but she always parks in front of it and complaints later when she has to scratch ice from the windows."  
"You mean that silver car is you mothers?"  
"Yes, it is. Why are you asking?"  
"You also mean that both garages belong to this house?"  
"Yes, they do. Again, why are you asking?"  
"How big is this house, Matt?"  
She didn't plan to sound that much impressed. Her own house was quite huge. Hell, Matt's old house was a villa. But she didn't thought about a house like this in front of her when he told her about Christmas in Ottawa.  
She saw him chuckle with delight about her question.  
"The whole truth before we enter? Alright, it's big enough. I can promise you that Court. We used to live here with five children, two adults and a dog. It has three floors. Eight bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, a dining room, three bathrooms, a basement and a backyard. But as I told you it could be a little crowded because everyone brought someone along and we will be quite a lot of people here."

She followed him out of the car and onto the porch. Matthew pulled out some keys from his coat and opened the door.  
"After you, Ladies" he said while opening the front door for Courteney and Coco.  
They stood in a small foyer. Matthew closed the door behind them pulling their luggage in the corner underneath the wardrobe.  
Courteney jumped a little out of surprise when she suddenly felt his hands on her shoulders. "Easy there Court" he laughed quietly, "I just wanted to take your girl's coats."  
When she looked at him she saw that he had already hung his own coat on the wardrobe. The sunglasses were exchanged for his real glasses and his cap was turned around. He stood there in front of them wearing a cream colored roll neck sweater, a pair of dark blue jeans and black sneakers. Courteney just realized once again how incredible handsome he looked.  
Like the real Gentleman he was Matthew took their coats and hung them up.  
"Okay, I guess they are all in the kitchen" he told them. Following him again he led them to a large kitchen where conversations could be heard.  
"Hey Mum, we're here" Matthew greeted into the room.  
"Matty!" a small woman yelled in excitement.  
She walked around the kitchen isle and took her son into a big hug. You could see the smile on Matthew's face at that moment. Happy to be back with his family.  
"It's so great to have you finally back home, my boy"  
"I know Mum. It's great to be back. I've missed you too"  
"Hey buddy, welcome home" a tall, white haired man greeted him.  
"Hey Keith" Matthew said and hugged his step-father.  
He then turned to the girls standing behind him.  
"Mum, Keith, you remember my good friend Courteney? And this is her daughter Coco" Matthew introduced them.  
Courteney did remember Suzanne and Keith Morrison very good. They had both visit the Friends Shooting a couple of times.  
"Of course we do!" his mother responded and took a surprised Courteney in a hug aswell, "Welcome, welcome my Dears. Please make yourself a home!"  
"Thank you very much for inviting us Mr. and Mrs. Morrison" Courteney answered.  
Strange thing she felt somehow like a sixteen year old school girl meeting her boyfriend's parents for the first time.  
"Oh please, stop with the Mr. and Mrs. I feel so much older when you kids do this. Please just call us by our names" his step-father answered friendly.  
This statement just strengthened her strange feeling. She was 51 years old and here she stood and was referred as _kids_.  
They were ushered further into the kitchen. Some of Matthew's siblings and their families were already there. Everyone greeted each other and soon they were all into nice conversations about everything and anything. Courteney was in the middle of a conversation with Matthew's sister Emily about travelling when their brother Willy appeared next to them. "Guys, take care not to get trapped. She did it again this year"  
A groan came from Matthew who stood behind Courteney whilst Emily rolled her eyes. "Excuse me, but what please?" she asked. Emily smiled sheepish and explained "Mum loves all these classic Holiday Traditions. No matter what Holiday, no matter what Tradition. So one of them is hanging Mistletoes all around the house. It is an absolute duty to keep the Tradition and kiss if you come to a stop underneath one of them. I think she is the only one who likes these damn Traditions. So when we were younger we learned exactly where they hung and avoided these places in the house. As soon as she found out she changed her system. Ever since the mistletoes wander around the house. She rearranges them a couple of times a day when no one is looking to trap us underneath them anyway. So be careful and always check the ceiling or you could get trapped."  
Courteney couldn't help but laugh at this.  
Emily, Willy and Matthew all had the same not so thrilled look on their faces. You could tell at this moment that they were siblings.  
"Alright. Thanks for the warning then" she answered.

The last persons to arrive were Matthew's Grandparents.  
Courteney remembered him telling her about them.  
When his parents divorced Matthew was barely a year old. His mother had moved back with him to Ottawa while his father moved to LA for his career. Due to the young age of his mother his grandparents helped raising him. He was very close with both of them.  
They made their round greeting everyone.  
When they saw Matthew their faces lit up.  
"Chappy! Oh my Boy. Come here, come here!" The little old woman took him in her arms. It was cute to watch as the tall Matthew ducked a little down to his grandmother's level.  
"Hey Nana", he kissed her cheek and turned to hug his grandfather aswell "Hey Pop."  
He talked a little with both of them when he turned to look back at Courteney. She just grinned.  
"What now?" he asked her smiling aswell. "So now you are Chappy? Where does this one come from?" Before he even had a chance to answer his grandfather interrupted him.  
"What Chap? You didn't tell this lovely Lady your Nickname?" he asked in a playful way. It was the cutest thing ever.  
"Well Pop, you see…"  
"No Buddy, too late. You had your chance. Now it's my take. Come with me beautiful, I'm gonna tell you the story."  
And with that he took her by the hand and let her a few feet away. She looked back to Matthew who just grinned back at her.  
If there was one thing Courteney could say for sure then it was that Matthew was definitely related to the Gentleman in front of her. Not only was he as charming as his grandson, you could also see where Matthew learned to tell stories so well.  
"You see my Dear, I was always a very big Fan of Comedy Movies. When that boy spent his young years with us there was always some Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton or anything like this on the television. Mister Funny over there" he nodded in Matthew's direction, "started to copy them. He learned there sketches by heart and replayed them over and over again. He was also pretty good with copying their facial expressions and gesturing. His best performance was from my favorite, Charlie Chaplin. He entertained everyone with his Chaplin sketches and so he got the nickname Chappy, short for Chaplin." When he finished he smiled proudly from one ear to the other.  
Meanwhile Matthew was in a conversation with his mother.  
Even though his parents were divorced for so long they still held a good and close friendship. So she was very happy to hear that John had finally become a grandfather. Something he waited for patiently for a long time now. Matthew was telling her about Selina proudly and even showed her some pictures on his phone.

About half an hour later Suzanne went to stand in the middle of the kitchen door looking at the very crowded room with a huge smile on her face.  
Courteney couldn't believe how many people fit in this kitchen. Matthew definitely didn't lie when he said they would be crowded. There were his mother and step-father, his grandparents and the three of them. His sister Emily with her husband Graham and the two kids Hailey and Lucy. His sister Caitlyn with her husband Brian and their children Zach and Zoe. His step-brother Michael with his wife Felicia and their children Timothy, Gabriel and Maya. His brother Willy with his girlfriend Claire and his youngest sister Madeleine who brought her best friend Lexie with her. 24 people in total.  
"My Dears," his mother started "may I ask for your attention for a moment?"  
The whole room went completely silent.  
"Very well. So welcome everybody. Keith and I are very happy to have you all here this year. As we are quite a number of people we have to organize the next couple of days a little. I've planned for dinner to be served tonight at seven. Until then you can all get settled in your rooms, relax and catch up with each other. As we have also some guests here for the first time, your hosts, which I refer to the ones who grew up here, will give you a Tour and answer all questions. I already equipped every room with pillows, blankets and sheets. If any more are needed you'll know where to find them. My little hosts will share their rooms with their guests please. Mum and Dad we've prepared the guest room for you two. The annual Hockey Game will take place on 26'th at 2 pm as usual. Whoever is interested in joining please tell our Team Captains Keith and Matthew. You two are in charge for getting the Teams settled on time. So… that was it from my side. Oh wait… one thing left. To those wonderful and beloved children of mine… if one of you dares to touch or rearrange any of my decorations, especially the mistletoes, you'll sleep in the Backyard without any food for the whole Holidays. That is a promise."  
Everyone laughed as Suzanne ended her greeting with a laugh herself. "And now, out of my kitchen you guys" she added smiling and went to her stove.  
As everyone started to leave the room Matthew's grandfather turned back to Courteney. "You Ladies just stay close with Chappy. He'll take care of you. Chap! Come here Buddy. Show your manners and look after these girls" he called out to Matthew.  
"Yes, Sir" came the answer. A short moment later he was right behind Courteney, taking her hand and leading her and Coco out of the kitchen.

The House was as beautiful from the inside as it was from the outside.  
While leading them to their room Matt gave them their Tour aswell.  
The house had three floors with one bathroom on each of them.  
On the ground floor was the guest room. Bedroom one of eight. It was usually held for his grandparents and therefore settled on the ground floor so they wouldn't have to take so many steps.  
The second floor held the parents' bedroom aswell as the rooms of his sisters while all three boys, Matthew, Michael and Willy, had their rooms on the third floor. Even though Michael, who was Keith's son from his former relationship, used to live with his mother most of his childhood and youth, he also had a room at his father's.  
Matt carried their luggage to the door on the far right side of the third floor. A sticker with the old LA Kings Logo was in the middle of the light brown wooden door.  
The room was painted in a light grey colour. Across the door was a window with a great view to the backside of the house. On the right side stood a big bed on the wall covered in dark blue sheets. The left side next to the door held a small black couch. Next to the window on the left was a desk full of paperwork and a closed laptop in the middle of it. On the left wall between the desk and the couch stood a wardrobe.  
A full set of Hockey equipment including skates and sticks lay in the corner next to the couch. An acoustic guitar stood in the corner at the foot of the bed. Courteney knew that Matthew could play it. His father had taught him when he was still a small boy. He was actually pretty good but he tried to hide it. Just as he tried to hide the fact that he had a very good singing voice and, against all impressions of the media and his own jokes about it, could indeed dance very good. During their time as co-stars she had the joy to dance with him a couple of times and he was really good. Not just in swaying from side to side but in actual dance properly. When she asked him back in the days where he learned it he confessed that his grandfather taught him because in the wise words of the old man "a real Gentleman has to know such things for life". That's also how Matt learned to tie ties and bow ties.  
The walls were decorated in some Ice Hockey and Baseball Posters and a bunch of photos. Most of them arranged as collages.  
You could find pictures of his childhood and youth but also him with friends and co-stars. With Kevin Pollak and Bruce Willis on the Set of "Whole Nine Yards" At a Gala with Lauren Graham. Him and Thomas Lennon Backstage at "The Odd Couple". With Garry Marshall, Bradley Whitford, Hank Azarian, Ellen DeGeneres, them with the rest of the Gang Backstage at the Friends set. There was even him next to the Stanley Cup.  
All in all the room was very comfortable and surprisingly tidy aswell.  
"So this is it. Feel well" Matthew said. "I suggest you girls share the bed and I'll just sleep on the couch. The bed is big enough for two people and pretty comfy" he added while putting his suitcase on the couch.  
With a wide grin Coco turned towards him.  
"You know Matty, I'm not so tall and don't need much space. I don't mind sleeping on the couch. In fact I sometimes tend to kick in my sleep. Maybe it would even be smarter to let me have the couch."  
Courteney knew exactly what Coco was just trying.  
When the marriage of her parents failed Coco watched movies and Sitcoms to get her young mind off to other things. That's when she got hooked on Friends. As soon as she finished the tenth season for the first time she started rooting for Chandler and Monica aswell as for Matthew and her mother. She didn't know that they had an affair once and she also didn't know the trouble her mother was at the moment when it came to Matthew. She was just a huge Fan girl hoping for her perfect ending. With her current feelings for her former co-star Courteney didn't stop her daughter from the try to get both adults in the same bed. She just avoided eye contact and tried to hide her lightly blushed cheeks.  
Matthew on the other hand turned to Coco, his wide lopsided grin on his face.  
"Well, as tempting as this offer sounds Coco, I could never deny a Lady the place in the bed. You have no idea what my Pop would do to me if he would hear that I'd let one of you sleep on the couch. So the couch has to be mine."  
Damn it! Courteney thought. So close.  
"Okay, you win" Coco gave in, "but what did your Mom mean when she called you Team Captain, Matty?"  
"That's because I am the Team Captain. You know when I was a little boy, before my siblings were born, my Dad used to visit me here in Canada during the Holidays. The Christmas I was seven years old he couldn't make it for the very first time ever. I was pretty upset and in no mood at all to celebrate anything. That was the year my Mum and Keith got together. At that Christmas they were together for a couple of months so Keith still tried to bond with me as good as he could. He also felt sorry for me because my Dad wasn't coming. To cheer me up he got the idea that the two of us could go and play Ice Hockey against each other. It was just great. We had so much fun. We made it into a Family Tournament. Ever since that one Christmas we were playing our Hockey Game every year on Christmas. It's Tradition. As time went on and the family grew we became more and more players but Keith and I are the Team Captains every year for 39 years now because we were the very first player of this Tournament. Whoever is in the game tells us and we create our Teams every year all over again and play. My Teams lost the last six years so I have to built a good one this year."  
"Wow, that's so cool! Do only the boys play?"  
"Nope, we mix the Teams. With four sisters there wasn't much of a choice" he winked.  
"So could I play too then?" Coco asked exited.  
"If you want to and your Mum is fine with it, of course."  
Coco turned around with wide eyes. Courteney couldn't remember when the last time was that her daughter looked so excited and hooked about something. It was incredible cute to watch. There was no chance she could deny it. So she just smiled and nodded her head slightly.  
Coco ran full speed into her mother's arms screaming her Thank yous over and over again. "Matty, I wanna be in your Team!" she turned towards him still clinging at her Mum.  
"Well then I can only win this year, right?" he grinned back.

The rest of the day was spent nice and as quiet as it could be with 24 people.  
What Courteney sensed very quickly was that time stood still in the Morrison House. No matter how old Matthew and his siblings were, no matter that some of them were already parents on their own, in this House they were the Children. It was very cute to watch. Matthew sat on the other side of the living room and changed looks and smiles with her the whole evening while he was in the middle of conversations with Keith, his mother or his Nana. He seemed very laid back and happy around them. It was wonderful to watch. 

* * *

**Hello Children!**

 **Do you remember me?**  
 **Again I'm beggin for you pardon as it took so long for this Chapter to come along.**  
 **I really hope to get more time to write in 2018.**

 **Thank you all so so much for all this amazing Feedback.**  
 **Puts a smile on my face evry single time.**  
 **I'm happy that you like this story.**  
 **Small warning: it might become a little cheesy in the following Chapters.**  
 **The Story is completely finished in my head I know exactly how it will go on and it's gonna be cheesy.**

 **As for the Feedback, I have tons of FanFic ideas.**  
 **This one is the only real life story.**  
 **All the others are Fics about series (most of them Mondler),**  
 **and I'm working on more then one story at the moment.**

 **So there will come Chandler and Monica Stories, that's for sure.**

 **Enjoy and have a great start in 2018!**


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